Car bomb kills dozens at Iraq army base

A car bomb at the entrance to an Iraqi army base has killed at least 25 people, security and medical officials say.

The blast struck at around midday on Tuesday (local time) in the town of Taji, 25 kilometres north of Baghdad, an interior ministry official and a medic said.

The bomb hit as potential new army recruits were massed at the gate.

It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were soldiers or new recruits.

Differing tolls and breakdowns of casualty figures are common in the chaotic aftermath of violence in Iraq.

The blast struck as the base was holding a recruitment day to welcome potential new soldiers, events which have been frequent targets of militants intent on carrying out mass-casualty attacks in the past.

Tuesday's bombing was the deadliest single attack to hit Iraq since July 24, when a series of coordinated blasts also in Taji killed 42 people.